Clandestine lab operators are not the mad scientists whose genius keeps them pent up in the laboratory contemplating elaborate formulas and mixing exotic chemicals. In fact, their equipment is usually simple, their chemicals household products, and their education basic. Most of the time the elements at the scene are perfectly legal to sell and own. It is only in the combination of all these elements that the lab becomes the scene of a criminal operation. Forensic Investigation of Clandestine Laboratories guides you, step-by-step, through the process of recognizing these illegal manufacturing operations. Then it shows you how to prove it in the courtroom. In non-technical language this book details: How to recognize a clandestine lab How to process the site of a clandestine lab How to analyze evidence in the examination laboratory What to derive from the physical evidence How to present the evidence in court The identification and investigation of a clandestine lab, and the successful prosecution of the perpetrators, is a team effort. A collaboration of law enforcement, forensic experts, scientists, and criminal prosecutors is required to present a case that definitively demonstrates how a group of items with legitimate uses are being used to manufacture an illegal controlled substance. Providing an understanding of how the pieces of the clandestine lab puzzle fit together, this book outlines the steps needed to identify and shut down these operations, as well as successfully prosecute the perpetrators.

Forensic science has come a long way in the past ten years. It is much more in-depth and much broader in scope, and the information gleaned from any evidence yields so much more information than it had in the past because of incredible advances in analytic instruments and crucial procedures at both the crime scene and in the lab. Many practices have gone digital, a concept not even fathomed ten years ago. And from the first collection of evidence to its lab analysis and interpretation to its final presentation in court, ethics has become an overriding guiding principle. That’s why this new edition of this classic handbook is indispensable. The Forensic Laboratory Handbook Procedures and Practice includes thirteen new chapters written by real-life practitioners who are experts in the field. It covers the tried and true topics of fingerprints, trace evidence, chemistry, biology, explosives and arson, forensic anthropology, forensic pathology, forensic documents, firearms and toolmarks. This text also addresses an array of new topics including accreditation, certification, ethics, and how insects and bugs can assist in determining many facts including a margin of time of death. In the attempt to offer a complete and comprehensive analysis The Forensic Laboratory Handbook Procedures and Practice also includes a chapter discussing the design of a laboratory. In addition, each chapter contains educational requirements needed for the discipline it covers. Complete with questions at the end of each chapter, brief author bios and real crime scene photos, this text has risen to greet the many new challenges and issues that face today’s forensic crime practitioners.

While other books cover general topics and various subsets of forensic anthropology, this one-of-a-kind reference compiles the best practices of policies, procedures, and protocols of different laboratories across the world. This book brings together experts in every aspect of forensic anthropology to consider physical plant demands, equipment needs, staffing, ethical issues, and the process of certification with the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors. With examples of implementation, The Forensic Anthropology Laboratory also provides discussion of proven methods in skeletal preparation, laboratory flow, and specimen curation including processing logs and sample forms.

This book exposes the dangerously imperfect forensic evidence that we rely on for criminal convictions. "That's not my fingerprint, your honor," said the defendant, after FBI experts reported a "100-percent identification." The FBI was wrong. It is shocking how often they are. Autopsy of a Crime Lab is the first book to catalog the sources of error and the faulty science behind a range of well-known forensic evidence, from fingerprints and firearms to forensic algorithms. In this devastating forensic takedown, noted legal expert Brandon L. Garrett poses the questions that should be asked in courtrooms every day: Where are the studies that validate the basic premises of widely accepted techniques such as fingerprinting? How can experts testify with 100-percent certainty about a fingerprint, when there is no such thing as a 100 percent match? Where is the quality control at the crime scenes and in the laboratories? Should we so readily adopt powerful new technologies like facial recognition software and rapid DNA machines? And why have judges been so reluctant to consider the weaknesses of so many long-accepted methods? Taking us into the lives of the wrongfully convicted or nearly convicted, into crime labs rocked by scandal, and onto the front lines of promising reform efforts driven by professionals and researchers alike, Autopsy of a Crime Lab illustrates the persistence and perniciousness of shaky science and its well-meaning practitioners.

A practical, accessible, and informative guide to the science of criminal investigations. Covering the fundamentals, science, history, and analysis of clues, The Handy Forensic Science Answer Book: Reading Clues at the Crime Scene, Crime Lab and in Court provides detailed information on crime scene investigations, techniques, laboratory finding, the latest research, and controversies. It looks at the science of law enforcement, how evidence is gathered, processed, analyzed, and viewed in the courtroom, and more. From the cause, manner, time of a death, and autopsies to blood, toxicology, DNA typing, fingerprints, ballistics, tool marks, tread impressions, and trace evidence, it takes the reader through the many sides of a death investigation. Arson, accidents, computer crimes, criminal profiling, and much, much more are also addressed. The Handy Forensic Science Answer Book gives real-world examples and looks at what Hollywood gets right and wrong. It provides the history of the science, and it introduces the scientists behind breakthroughs. An easy-to-use and informative reference, it brings the complexity of a criminal investigation into focus and provides well-researched answers to over 950 common questions, such as ... What is the difference between cause of death and manner of death? How did a person’s skull fit into criminal evidence in the early 1800s? When were fingerprints first used to identify a criminal? How is the approximate time of death of a crime scene victim determined? What is forensic serology? What is the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System? Can a forensics expert look at skeletal remains and tell whether the person was obese? How can a simple knot analyzed in the crime lab be used as evidence? Can fingerprints be permanently changed or destroyed? How fast does a bullet travel? How was a chemical analysis of ink important in the conviction of Martha Stewart? What types of data are often retrieved from a crime scene cellphone? Can analyses similar to those used in forensics be used to uncover doping in athletics? What is the Personality Assessment Inventory? What are some motives that cause an arsonist to start a fire? What state no longer allows bite marks as admissible evidence in a trial? What is the Innocence Project? Why are eyewitness accounts not always reliable? Who was “Jack the Ripper”? Providing the facts, stats, history, and science, The Handy Forensic Science Answer Book answers intriguing questions about criminal investigations. This informative book also includes a helpful bibliography, glossary of terms, and an extensive index, adding to its usefulness.

Crime laboratory management is the first book to address the duties, responsibilities and issues involved with managing a crime laboratory. The book counters the common misconceptions generated by television programs and the media that crime labs can perform 'miracles in minutes' by providing practical information to law enforcement, forensic scientists students, medical examiners, lawyers and crime scene investigators regarding crime laboratory operation

An overview of forensic science for young adult readers that includes case studies of actual crimes

Forensic Microscopy: A Laboratory Manual will provide the student with a practical overview and understanding of the various microscopes and microscopic techniques employed within the field of forensic science. Each laboratory experiment has been carefully designed to cover the variety of evidence disciplines within the forensic science field with carefully set out objectives, explanations of each topic and worksheets to help students compile and analyse their results. The emphasis is placed on the practical aspects of the analysis to enrich student understanding through hands on experience. The experiments move from basic through to specialised and have been developed to cover a variety of evidence disciplines within forensic science field. The emphasis is placed on techniques currently used by trace examiners. This unique, forensic focused, microscopy laboratory manual provides objectives for each topic covered with experiments designed to reinforce what has been learnt along with end of chapter questions, report requirements and numerous references for further reading. Impression evidence such as fingerprints, shoe tread patterns, tool marks and firearms will be analysed using simple stereomicroscopic techniques. Body fluids drug and trace evidence (e.g. paint glass hair fibre) will be covered by a variety of microscopes and specialized microscopic techniques.

Forensic science laboratories' reputations have increasingly come under fire. Incidents of tainted evidence, false reports, allegations of negligence, scientifically flawed testimony, or - worse yet - perjury in in-court testimony, have all served to cast a shadow over the forensic sciences. Instances of each are just a few of the quality-related charges made in the last few years. Forensic Science Under Siege is the first book to integrate and explain these problematic trends in forensic science. The issues are timely, and are approached from an investigatory, yet scholarly and research-driven, perspective. Leading experts are consulted and interviewed, including directors of highly visible forensic laboratories, as well as medical examiners and coroners who are commandeering the discussions related to these issues. Interviewees include Henry Lee, Richard Saferstein, Cyril Wecht, and many others. The ultimate consequences of all these pressures, as well as the future of forensic science, has yet to be determined. This book examines these challenges, while also exploring possible solutions (such as the formation of a forensic science consortium to address specific legislative issues). It is a must-read for all forensic scientists. - Provides insight on the current state of forensic science, demands, and future direction as provided by leading experts in the field - Consolidates the current state of standards and best-practices of labs across disciplines - Discusses a controversial topic that must be addressed for political support and financial funding of forensic science to improve